Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH – Get Rating) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $115.14.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MTH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. StockNews.com raised Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 16th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $132.00 target price on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Wednesday, April 12th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $104.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 6th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group upped their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $106.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 5,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $594,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 44,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,888,510. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 5,400 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $594,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 44,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,888,510. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Raymond Oppel sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.22, for a total transaction of $551,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,102,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,800 shares of company stock valued at $2,071,177. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Meritage Homes

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 137.5% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 12,550 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $994,000 after buying an additional 7,266 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 43.7% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 3,740 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,138 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the first quarter worth approximately $464,000. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 14,632 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 49.3% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 19,463 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 6,431 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $117.37 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 1.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.29 billion, a PE ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $120.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.50. Meritage Homes has a fifty-two week low of $62.51 and a fifty-two week high of $130.68.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 26th. The construction company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $1.03. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 23.99% and a net margin of 14.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Meritage Homes will post 15.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.41%.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

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Meritage Homes Corp. engages in the design and construction of single family attached and detached homes. It operates through the Homebuilding and Financial Services segments. The Homebuilding segment acquires and develops lands, constructs homes, markets and sells those homes, and provides warranty and customer services.